Henry Cavill Almost Missed His Chance To Play Superman

Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck sat down for an interview with Conan O’Brien Thursday evening to discuss his role in the latest DC film, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Among the many things the three discussed, Cavill admitted that he ignored the call from Zack Snyder offering him the part to play Superman in 2013’s Man of Steel because he was playing video games.

“Well, the first time I got the call, I actually missed it,” Cavill said with a pained expression on his face. “I was playing World of Warcraft, and I had my priorities straight,” he joked.

Just to make sure he had heard the Superman actor correctly, O’Brien clarified the question and his response.

“Wait a minute. You were home – It’s not like you weren’t home – You were home, but you were playing World of Warcraft and the phone rings and you were like, ‘I’ll get that later?'”

It appears Conan heard it correctly. “Absolutely, I’ll get that later” Cavill responded. “And I was playing – it was an important part of a particular dungeon that I was going through – It’s cool now that I’m Superman,” he said laughing.

“And I looked across at the last moment, and I saw Zack Snyder’s name on the phone, so I grabbed the phone and then missed it.”

Luckily, we have both caller ID and instant re-call on cell phones today, so it wasn’t too devastating of an experience for the British actor.

“I called him back immediately; I’m really sorry. I was saving someone’s life, and I missed your call,” he deadpanned.

It seems that all was forgiven, and Cavill received the news that he would be playing one of the world’s most iconic parts in the history of film.

Hopefully Cavill’s interest in video games will be enough for him to continue playing the role. That’s good for Superman fans who are getting a little tired of seeing one actor after another take a shot at the role.

Henry Cavill seems like the perfect actor to play Superman, including his looks, deep voice, and winning smile. Fans are hopeful that he’ll remain Superman in the future as well. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)

In the same interview with Henry Cavill, Conan O’Brien asked Ben Affleck about his feelings regarding being offered the role of Batman.

“I’m curious,” O’Brien begins. “You get this iconic phone call, the call that everybody wants – every guy that grew up loving Batman wants – and the phone rings. What was your response? They’re offering you the chance to be Batman.”

Ben agreed that it was a bit overwhelming. “Honestly, the first thing I thought was, like, wait a minute, I was thinking they’d do the origin story first, the new Batman, he comes out, he wants to avenge his parents death, and I thought, I’m not that Batman.”

But Zack Snyder apparently explained how this Batman would be different. He’d be older and broken down, “at the edge of moral bankruptcy.” Affleck’s response to that was, “I’m clearly your man. Say no more.”

He also discussed how he was much more excited to play the Frank Miller version of Batman, which is the version we see in the Dark Knight series of the comics.

“That’s what got me really excited, that it was the Frank Miller, Dark Knight version of the character, which is that he’s kind of broken down, a brawler, a heavy weight boxer in the twelfth round, a guy who’s torn out and kind of at his wit’s end, and I thought there was something kind of cool and punchy and fun about that Frank Miller version.”

Ben Affleck may have had some trepidation about playing the role of Batman at first, but he seems to be enjoying himself now. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Bai Superteas)

Affleck has expressed in the past some concern about taking on the role of Batman, which was met with various feedback. Some loved his actions in the role and others felt there was something to be desired.

There’s a current viral video circling the internet in which Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck discuss some of the negative reviews of the film. It shows Cavill discussing some of the misconceptions and Ben seeming to seriously rethink his decision in doing the film.

Batman v Superman has experienced the largest drop in box office numbers in history with an 81 percent drop since the first weekend.

There’s speculation about whether or not Affleck will return in the next film, but it seems like Henry Cavill will be sticking around as Superman for the near future.